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Lepidoptera is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described species of living organisms. It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world. The Lepidoptera show many variations of the basic body structure that have evolved to gain advantages in lifestyle and distribution. Recent estimates suggest the order may have more species than earlier thought, and is among the four most speciose orders, along with the Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Coleoptera.
Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of which have yet to be described. Most species of moth are nocturnal, but there are also crepuscular and diurnal species.
Bombyx mori, the domestic silk moth, is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of Bombyx mandarina, the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food are white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even the osage orange. Domestic silk moths are entirely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silk moths are not as commercially viable in the production of silk.
The Sphingidae are a family of moths (Lepidoptera) called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as “hornworms”; it includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, but species are found in every region. They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their agile and sustained flying ability, similar enough to that of hummingbirds as to be reliably mistaken for them. Their narrow wings and streamlined abdomens are adaptations for rapid flight. The family was named by French zoologist Pierre André Latreille in 1802.
A pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages thereof being egg, larva, pupa, and imago. The processes of entering and completing the pupal stage are controlled by the insect's hormones, especially juvenile hormone, prothoracicotropic hormone, and ecdysone. The act of becoming a pupa is called pupation, and the act of emerging from the pupal case is called eclosion or emergence.
Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy places the family in the superfamily Papilionoidea, the butterflies. They are named for their quick, darting flight habits. Most have their antenna tips modified into narrow, hook-like projections. Moreover, skippers mostly have an absence of wing-coupling structure available in most moths. More than 3500 species of skippers are recognized, and they occur worldwide, but with the greatest diversity in the Neotropical regions of Central and South America.
The Arctiinae are a large and diverse subfamily of moths with around 11,000 species found all over the world, including 6,000 neotropical species. This subfamily includes the groups commonly known as tiger moths, which usually have bright colours, footmen, which are usually much drabber, lichen moths, and wasp moths. Many species have "hairy" caterpillars that are popularly known as woolly bears or woolly worms. The scientific name Arctiinae refers to this hairiness. Some species within the Arctiinae have the word "tussock"' in their common names because they have been misidentified as members of the Lymantriinae subfamily based on the characteristics of the larvae.
The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. In addition to the type's principal use for ab initio training, the Second World War had RAF Tiger Moths operating in other capacities, including maritime surveillance and defensive anti-invasion preparations; some aircraft were even outfitted to function as armed light bombers.
The evolution of the peppered moth is an evolutionary instance of directional colour change in the moth population as a consequence of air pollution during the Industrial Revolution. The frequency of dark-coloured moths increased at that time, an example of industrial melanism. Later, when pollution was reduced, the light-coloured form again predominated. Industrial melanism in the peppered moth was an early test of Charles Darwin's natural selection in action, and it remains a classic example in the teaching of evolution. In 1978, Sewall Wright described it as "the clearest case in which a conspicuous evolutionary process has actually been observed."
The superfamily Papilionoidea contains all the butterflies except for the moth-like Hedyloidea.
The Crambidae are the grass moth family of lepidopterans. They are variable in appearance, the nominal subfamily Crambinae taking up closely folded postures on grass stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies include brightly coloured and patterned insects which rest in wing-spread attitudes.
The Lymantriinae are a subfamily of moths of the family Erebidae. The taxon was erected by George Hampson in 1893.
Acrolophidae is a family of moths in the order Lepidoptera. The family comprises the burrowing webworm moths and tube moths. The family holds about 300 species in five genera, which occur in the wild only in the New World. It is closely related to the Tineidae family.
Brachodidae is a family of day-flying moths, commonly known as little bear moths, which contains about 135 species distributed around much of the world. The relationships and status of the presently included genera are not well understood.
The Glyphipterigidae are a family of small moths commonly known as sedge moths, as the larvae of many species feed on sedges and rushes. More than 500 species have been described in the family.
Neolepidoptera is a clade within Myoglossata in suborder Glossata of order Lepidoptera, the butterflies and moths. They differ from other Myoglossata in the larval stage abdominal prolegs, pupal morphology, and the mandibles are reduced in area. They also differ in their reproductive systems. The prolegs have muscles and apical hooklets. The reproductive organs have two openings. There are also differences in the wing structure. The pupae are "incomplete or obtect."
HMS Moth was an Insect-class gunboat of the Royal Navy. Entering service in 1916, Moth had a varied career with service in the Middle East, the White Sea and the Far East in two world wars. Scuttled in World War II during the invasion of Hong Kong, the ship was raised and put into service by the Imperial Japanese Navy as Suma (須磨). The ship remained active throughout the war, before striking a naval mine in the Yangtze River in 1945 and sinking.
The Obtectomera is a clade of macro-moths and butterflies, comprising over 100,000 species in at least 12 superfamilies.
Louis Beethoven Prout (1864–1943) was an English entomologist and musicologist.
The Macroheterocera are a well supported clade of moths that are closely related to butterflies and other macro-moths.
References
- Pitkin, Brian & Jenkins, Paul. "Search results Family: Lymantriidae, Genus: starts with B". Butterflies and Moths of the World. Natural History Museum, London.